Something More Than Rivalry
by The Source Behind the Shadow
Summary: Kankuro and Aiko never get along, consider themselves as rivals, and are always trying to best one another through bitter words and competition. But when they're sent on a simple B-ranked mission that begins to morph into a higher rank, they find themselves struggling with their clashing emotions that start to lean towards "more than rivalry or friendship." KankuroxOC


**Note: I do not own Naruto, although that would be quite nice. :)**

Enjoy and if you want to review, then review. That would mean a lot to me. xD

This is my first fanfic. Not sure how it's gonna work out x)

Chapter 1: Life Saving Rivals

"Come _on _you stupid vulture!" I shouted, staring up at the hideous bird from on the ground, "you're more trouble than you're worth!"

I should really stop taunting it, for this was the most humongous vulture I've ever seen.

Why is it that I, of all Chuunin, was picked to carry out this D ranked mission? I mean Gaara, the Kazekage, should've left this one for the Genin. I was usually his ideal choice of Chuunin for these assignments, though I have no idea why. The Genin were probably all out on missions, or he just enjoyed another day of torturing me.

My mind snapped back into reality when the bird suddenly took flight again, but this time swooping towards me at a speed that made my head spin. Apparently my little comment was taken as an insult. Good.

Just before it thought it was going to get the luxury of stabbing me with its beak, I sprang up onto its back. The bird started flailing around helplessly in the air as a pathetic attempt to throw me off.

"Don't worry ya stupid thing, I'm sure they've saved room just for you in Hell." I scoffed. This D rank mission of exterminating the vulture that was circling the butcher's store was turning out to be a piece of cake.

Suddenly the bird started to ascend higher and higher off of the ground. Looks like I spoke too soon.

"What are you doing, you idiot?" I called from on its back. Yeah, like the bird could really understand what I was saying.

In a pit of panic, I started to ring its neck. The bird started to squawk, the high pitched noise growing louder and louder, feathers springing up everywhere. By now we were about forty feet off the ground.

"Land, you stupid thing, LAND!"

I forgot to mention that I'm deftly afraid of heights.

A crowd was beginning to form in the streets below, with people staring up at my pathetic attempt to complete this mission. They looked like ants from up here, tiny ants that didn't have to do anything but live here, with Shinobi doing all of their work for them. Judgmental ants that didn't understand what it's like to be truly alone. I shook my head. I shouldn't think of them this way, not matter how badly they shunned me.

As quickly as we ascended, we were now descending towards the crowd of people that had formed on the ground. _DAMN! _We were gonna slam right into these harmless pedestrians.

There were a few yelps as people dodged the vulture and I.

"Sorry!" I would say to them as they shouted at me to control the "missile" I was desperately trying to strangle the life out of.

I spotted the Kazekage building up ahead while I was in mid-strangle with the bird. We were heading straight for it.

"Uh oh, this doesn't look too good…" I gulped, staring at the most important building in the village. The building I was about to smack right into.

_SMACK_! I felt a searing pain in my nose and practically my whole face. Meanwhile the bird gave a deafening squawk and we both slid down the building ever so slowly. I felt my body fall off of the bird, how far off of the ground I was, I had no clue. I continued to plunge towards the ground, willingly taking my death honorably as a Shinobi that had just fallen off of a vulture – as in, screaming curse words into the empty air.

"Hey, shut the hell up!"

I suddenly realized that I hadn't met my otherwise certain demise. I opened my eyes to see my longtime rival, Kankuro.

"You still can't even complete D ranked missions right," he scoffed. I just stared up at him, completely lost for words. Instead of trying to figure out something to say to him, I stared at the design of the purple Kabuki paint on his face. It's always annoyed me.

"Hey, you alright, Aiko?"

Huh. There was some kind of emotion on his face that I have never seen directed towards me. Concern? Was that it? I couldn't tell.

"Um…who's Aiko?" I asked. My mind was blown. I couldn't think straight, like all of the information I've picked up over the years just disappeared into thin air.

Kankuro sighed and shook his head. "You've been stupid ever since I met you."

"Oh shut up dollface," I snapped, flailing around in his arms, "put me down idiot!"

"Is that how you treat someone who just saved your life?" he answered back. I just wanted to slap that imprudent smirk right off his face.

"Yeah, when _you're _the one happened to save it!" I shouted, trying to free myself from his arms.

It's been like this since I met him. We always insult each other, and sometimes we almost end up killing each other in the process of our bickering. Like that one time when I punched him in the stomach and he almost threw up. I didn't get much satisfaction out of watching him buckle over in pain because a few minutes later after I stopped laughing my head off, I actually felt pretty guilty. I guess it's just that competitive spirit we both possess. It kinda clouds our judgment at times.

Suddenly I felt everyone's eyes drilling into Kankuro and I. Apparently he also noticed, because he put me down really swiftly and cleared his throat.

I looked up at the Kazekage's mansion, and sure enough, there it was. The vulture that I had fallen off of didn't plummet to the ground after all; its head was stuck right in the side of the building, while its scrawny legs were still flailing around on the outside. I glanced at Kankuro. He was staring at the bird, his eye twitching while he tried to suppress his laughter.

I suppressed the urge to start laughing uncontrollably too, but instead I nonchalantly stuffed my hands into my pockets and began to slowly walk away, keeping an eye on the entrance to the Kazekage's mansion. Maybe he wouldn't notice. Maybe he didn't look over to the left in his office and see a random vulture head. Maybe I wouldn't die after all. I was suddenly hopeful I could get away with it, and with that thought, I began to walk through the crowd of people. They separated to let me through, all of them glaring at me, the usual.

I've been shunned all of my life. Their glares no longer affect me. After all, why would they care about a fifteen year old girl that they believe came from the Hidden Sound Village? That's right. The notorious Hidden Sound Village, where a bunch of Orochimaru's little pets roam free.

I travelled to the Village Hidden in the Sand with my Aunt when I was a baby. Apparently that's what happened. The previous Kazekage, Gaara's father, had informed me of this, but we were never entirely sure that that's what actually happened.

People shun me because everything I do revolves around music, aside from exterminating vultures. I have a heightened since of hearing and I'm usually whistling, so somehow people began to develop the idea that I come from the Hidden Sound Village.

"_Aiko_." I suddenly heard the Kazekage utter my name through clenched teeth.

My mind was snapped back into reality. Uh oh. It was time for my death sentence.

Everyone in the crowd started to push me forward, like they were the jury and I was already found guilty. After the last pair of hands shoved me, I ended up right in front of the Kazekage. I stared down at the light, sandy ground, trying my hardest not to meet his strict gaze.

I glanced at Kankuro. He gave me a weak smirk.

"Come with me to my office." He said calmly. I could tell this calmness was a façade, and that instead he was extremely irritated with me and with all his willpower trying to keep himself from punching me in the face.

I sighed and grudgingly followed the red head into the Kazekage mansion. Leave it to me to invent insane ways to increase Gaara's stress levels without even intending to do so. I've been amazed for quite some time that he hasn't given up on me yet. Half of the missions I'm assigned to complete are usually failures-but-not-quite-failures, as Kankuro would put it. Meaning, I complete the mission, but not in the most average or "effective way".

I followed Gaara up the winding staircase that had become so familiar to me that I could probably climb them blindfolded. There were also those familiar paintings that hung on the slightly yellowish-brownish colored walls.

Once we reached the top of the staircase, he led me down a hallway of the same sand color that contained even more paintings and random wall decorations. I sighed loudly at the dull environment. Gaara didn't even so much as glance at me as he opened the door to his office and led me inside.

I stared at the room. This could be my second home, seeing as how I was always in here, with Gaara's never ending sighs at my rash actions and thoughts toward every mission I was assigned to.

In the near back of the room stood a desk, with a large chair behind it and a smaller chair in front of it. Behind the larger chair that Gaara was usually glued to, were three windows overlooking the Hidden Sand Village.

Then there was the vulture that was jammed into the wall to the right, squawking and flailing around. The most hilarious aspect of the whole situation was that only the vulture's head was in the room, while the rest of its body flailed around outside.

Gaara calmly plopped into the larger chair across the desk from the smaller one I had already sunk into. I avoided his eyes, instead focusing almost all of my attention to the potted plant and scattered books atop his desk. I never had even the faintest clue at how he finished all of the paperwork that constantly flowed into his office.

The silence was beginning to unnerve me as I felt his gaze burn into me. Even the freakin bird was silent. Just as I was about to blurt out a sharp remark to break the silence, the Kazekage finally spoke.

"I know exactly what you're going through."

I stared at him, my surprise at his words very blatant. Where did this come from? I thought he was going to treat me to another one of his usual lectures.

"Enlighten me on what exactly I am going through." I replied, perhaps with a bit too much sarcasm. I finally removed my gaze from the potted plant and up to meet his blue eyes. I actually knew _exactly _what he was talking about.

He stared at me with a passive expression, clearly unconvinced by my statement.

After a few minutes of Gaara waiting patiently for an answer, I finally spoke up. "I'm sure you do, but I don't need your pity. Pity isn't gonna help me prove to these people that I'm worth something." I was vaguely aware that I was grinding my teeth together in frustration.

"Nor will arrogance or reckless actions." Gaara replied. The calm aura emanating off of him was starting to piss me off.

I grunted, swallowing a snide remark.

"You feel shunned by all of these villagers. You feel the need to better yourself constantly so you can prove to them that you're worth something, resulting in impulsive actions. And furthermore," he continued, his stern gaze softening, "you feel alone."

He basically just nailed it.

Since Gaara was alone and shunned as a child, he understands everything I'm going through. The only difference (well, a very _big _difference), is that Gaara contains a demon – the Shukaku – that was sealed inside of him when he was an infant. While I on the other hand, am stamped with the accusation of originating from the Hidden Sound Village.

"Yeah, that's basically it." I scowled at the desk, suddenly feeling self-conscious.

"You're not alone Aiko. You have comrades who would willingly give their lives for you _and _this village." Gaara replied. There was a look in his eyes that said, _"I didn't even have that."_

It was my turn to sigh. My mind drifted to my old squad, which consisted of Daiki, Hisoka, and I. Daiki usually serves as my rooster, waking me up in the morning by dashing past my apartment door and shouting at me to "get my ass out of bed or I'll come in there". He usually only did this when he knew Gaara was going to assign me a mission. How he knew when the Kazekage was gonna assign me a mission was beyond me. His hair was spikey and just plain red. His green eyes were _always_ sparkling.

Then there was Hisoka. He was almost always silent, probably keeping himself on a strict schedule of only speaking maybe a maximum of ten words a day. Irritation practically always shown in his dark brown eyes, but he had a heart of gold. Though he acts like Daiki and I are a nuisance, he actually really cares deeply for us. His hair was raven black, spikey, but more tamed than Daiki's.

And then there was…

Suddenly the door to the Kazekage's office swung open. Kankuro wrestled with the door as it swung back and almost smacked him in the face; a whole stack of paperwork and books balanced messily in his arms.

_Kankuro_, I finished my thought. He always did this coincidental thing, as in, _every time_ I wasthinking about him, he would always show up. Though I really wasn't sure what he is to me; it's a split between best friend and rival.

"_Dammit_…" I heard him mutter under his breath as he stumbled over to his brother's desk, dumping all of the paperwork onto it. "You and all of your damn paperwork Gaara. This shit is gonna be the death of me." He mumbled dryly.

I could've sworn I saw Gaara's expression flash from calm, to miserable, to annoyed, and finally back to calm. He exhaled a sigh, staring at the mountain of paperwork with no motivation whatsoever.

Kankuro suddenly glanced over at me, finally realizing that I'd been sitting there the whole time. "So he hasn't killed you yet, huh?"

I huffed and jammed an elbow into his ribs. He stumbled a bit to the left, but then recovered and pushed me out of my chair.

"Damn you." I muttered, raising my fist and preparing to slam it into his cheek.

"Enough," Gaara said suddenly. I lowered my fist. "Aiko, just get rid of the vulture," he sighed, pointing the wall that still contained the random vulture head that was viciously squawking, "and Kankuro, help her. When you're done, come back in here. I've got another mission for you."

I shot Kankuro a smirk, which he quickly returned.


End file.
